Josh Donaldson has the first three-homer game of his career to lead the Blue Jays to a 9 – 6 win over Minnesota. His second shot, off Pat Light in the 7th, puts Toronto ahead to stay, while after his third, off Alex Wimmers in the 8th, fans at Rogers Centre deluge the field with hats, hockey-style. The Jays maintain a hold on first place in the AL East with the win, but for the Twins, it’s a tenth straight loss.

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Josh Donaldson has the first three-homer game of his career to lead the Blue Jays to a 9 – 6 win over Minnesota. His second shot, off Pat Light in the 7th, puts Toronto ahead to stay, while after his third, off Alex Wimmers in the 8th, fans at Rogers Centre deluge the field with hats, hockey-style. The Jays maintain a hold on first place in the AL East with the win, but for the Twins, it’s a tenth straight loss.

2016 – Matt Moore of the Giants comes within one out of throwing a no-hitter against the Dodgers, but Corey Seager singles to right with two outs in the 9th to end the bid. Moore immediately leaves the game, but the Giants win, 4 – 0, bringing them back to within two games of their first-place rivals. Before the game, Los Angeles trades C A.J. Ellis and minor leaguer Tommy Bergjans to the Phillies for veteran Carlos Ruiz. Ellis was the personal catcher of ace Clayton Kershaw, but as he is currently sidelined with an injury and Ellis is batting south of the Mendoza Line, the Dodgers feel it necessary to make a move to strengthen the position.

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2016 – Matt Moore of the Giants comes within one out of throwing a no-hitter against the Dodgers, but Corey Seager singles to right with two outs in the 9th to end the bid. Moore immediately leaves the game, but the Giants win, 4 – 0, bringing them back to within two games of their first-place rivals. Before the game, Los Angeles trades C A.J. Ellis and minor leaguer Tommy Bergjans to the Phillies for veteran Carlos Ruiz. Ellis was the personal catcher of ace Clayton Kershaw, but as he is currently sidelined with an injury and Ellis is batting south of the Mendoza Line, the Dodgers feel it necessary to make a move to strengthen the position.

The Astros and Orioles engage in a slugfest in Baltimore, with Houston coming out on top, 15 – 8. After George Springer leads off the game with a homer off Wade Miley, the Orioles set a modern record by hitting four home runs before making an out in their first turn at-bat. Facing Collin McHugh, Adam Jones homers on the first pitch, then Hyun Soo Kim singles, and Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo all homer in succession for a quick 5 – 1 lead. However, the Astros score 5 runs in the 2nd, and keep going from there to win the game. Springer goes 4 for 5 and José Altuve homers and has 5 RBIs for Houston as 8 long balls are hit overall.

ByThis Day in Baseball

2016 – The Astros and Orioles engage in a slugfest in Baltimore, with Houston coming out on top, 15 – 8. After George Springer leads off the game with a homer off Wade Miley, the Orioles set a modern record by hitting four home runs before making an out in their first turn at-bat. Facing Collin McHugh, Adam Jones homers on the first pitch, then Hyun Soo Kim singles, and Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo all homer in succession for a quick 5 – 1 lead. However, the Astros score 5 runs in the 2nd, and keep going from there to win the game. Springer goes 4 for 5 and José Altuve homers and has 5 RBIs for Houston as 8 long balls are hit overall.

The Orioles put on a power display in defeating the Astros, 13 – 5, hitting 6 homers, two each by J.J. Hardy and Chris Davis. Hyun Soo Kim adds four hits as the O’s jump on rookie starter Joe Musgrove. The win puts Baltimore in a second-place tie with Boston in the AL East, 1 1/2 games behind first-place Toronto in what has been a year-long see-saw race among the three teams.

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The Orioles put on a power display in defeating the Astros, 13 – 5, hitting 6 homers, two each by J.J. Hardy and Chris Davis. Hyun Soo Kim adds four hits as the O’s jump on rookie starter Joe Musgrove. The win puts Baltimore in a second-place tie with Boston in the AL East, 1 1/2 games behind first-place Toronto in what has been a year-long see-saw race among the three teams.

At their mid-year meeting in Houston, TX, Major League Baseball owners approve the sale of the Seattle Mariners to a group led by John Stanton and consisting of former minority owners of the team’s stock, with Nintendo of America only retaining a small share. On the meeting’s margin, Commissioner Rob Manfred states that he is considering some radical rule changes to speed up the game and increase offence, such as limiting pitching changes and defensive shifts, and introducing a pitch clock as has been done in the minor leagues.

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At their mid-year meeting in Houston, TX, Major League Baseball owners approve the sale of the Seattle Mariners to a group led by John Stanton and consisting of former minority owners of the team’s stock, with Nintendo of America only retaining a small share. On the meeting’s margin, Commissioner Rob Manfred states that he is considering some radical rule changes to speed up the game and increase offence, such as limiting pitching changes and defensive shifts, and introducing a pitch clock as has been done in the minor leagues.

The Commissioner’s office issues an indefinite suspension against Astros minor league outfielder Danry Vasquez, one day after the release of a tape from a surveillance camera showing him assaulting his girlfriend in a stairwell at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, TX. The Astros immediately announce that he has been handed his unconditional release, as teams no longer show any tolerance for serious incidents of family violence.

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The Commissioner’s office issues an indefinite suspension against Astros minor league outfielder Danry Vasquez, one day after the release of a tape from a surveillance camera showing him assaulting his girlfriend in a stairwell at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, TX. The Astros immediately announce that he has been handed his unconditional release, as teams no longer show any tolerance for serious incidents of family violence.

The Blue Jays score 8 runs in the 8th to mount a come-from-behind 12 – 6 win over the Yankees and take over first place from Baltimore in a tightly-fought AL East race. C Russell Martin’s second homer of the contest puts the Jays ahead to stay. His counterpart for New York, Gary Sanchez, also homers twice, making it the first time in American League history that both starting catchers have done so. Troy Tulowitzki has four hits and also homers for Toronto, while Scott Feldman earns his first win since being acquired in a mid-season trade.

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The Blue Jays score 8 runs in the 8th to mount a come-from-behind 12 – 6 win over the Yankees and take over first place from Baltimore in a tightly-fought AL East race. C Russell Martin’s second homer of the contest puts the Jays ahead to stay. His counterpart for New York, Gary Sanchez, also homers twice, making it the first time in American League history that both starting catchers have done so. Troy Tulowitzki has four hits and also homers for Toronto, while Scott Feldman earns his first win since being acquired in a mid-season trade.

Playing his first game in Philadelphia after being traded by the Phillies almost a year ago, Chase Utley has one of the best games of his career, homering twice including a grand slam in leading the Dodgers to a 15 – 5 win.

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Playing his first game in Philadelphia after being traded by the Phillies almost a year ago, Chase Utley has one of the best games of his career, homering twice including a grand slam in leading the Dodgers to a 15 – 5 win.

2016 – Francisco Mejia of the Lynchburg Hillcats goes 0 for 3 with a walk in a game against the Winston-Salem Dash to end his hitting streak at 50 games. It was the longest hitting streak in the minors since Roman Mejias had 55 in 1954.

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2016 – Francisco Mejia of the Lynchburg Hillcats goes 0 for 3 with a walk in a game against the Winston-Salem Dash to end his hitting streak at 50 games. It was the longest hitting streak in the minors since Roman Mejias had 55 in 1954.

2016 – Rookies Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers in their respective first major league at-bats in the 2nd inning to lead the Yankees to an 8 – 4 win over the Rays. No teammates had ever homered in their first at-bat in the same game, let alone back-to-back. The Yankees hit three more homers later in the day, by Starlin Castro, Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius, to put the game away; in a sign that the team’s youth movement is going well, not one of these players is over 25.

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2016 – Rookies Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers in their respective first major league at-bats in the 2nd inning to lead the Yankees to an 8 – 4 win over the Rays. No teammates had ever homered in their first at-bat in the same game, let alone back-to-back. The Yankees hit three more homers later in the day, by Starlin Castro, Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius, to put the game away; in a sign that the team’s youth movement is going well, not one of these players is over 25.